Reasons to Date a Climber

Hey hey cuties! Sorry for not posting lately! No, I haven't been that busy; I just kept forgetting. In my defense, I was reading a really, really, really, really, really good book and looking for plant pathology jobs. That's about it. I've been working a few shifts at SBP and exploring Seattle a little at a time. Also, my last box I have been waiting forever for arrived empty. That's right. EMPTY. Cute. Now I get to figure that out and wait some more.

Anyways, the more fun part of my life. Two weekends ago, Aaron, Travis, Patrick, Eugene and I went bouldering at Leavenworth. Yeah, I spent my weekend with a bunch of geeky computer dudes ;)  By the way, this was Travis's third time climbing ever. On Saturday, we warmed up on some slabs and taught Travis a little about bouldering. I hopped on Lovage (V3) and got reminded that I need to work on my heel-hooks. I worked out a few of the moves so next time I can send (hopefully). I also ran into a few of the people I work with at SBP. I saw Holly, Jason, and Meredith! Then we went over to a V6 or 7 (Aaron will correct me if I'm wrong) for Aaron to do. I tried it for fun but I'll just say that the first move is a little out of my reach. Literally a little out of my reach. Anyways, it was fun. The next day we went over to Drugstore Cowboy (V3) and Patrick sent! I was super close but couldn't quite pull off the top-out. Next time.

Leavenworth!

Then we hung out by Sunny and Steep (V2) and Funny and Cheap (V4) for awhile. Finally we got burnt out. No really. Sun-burnt. Wow, I am full of puns today. So we got sick of the sun and hung out in the shade drinking a few beers. All the boys were psyched on slab (why? why not overhangs?) so I had the job of sitting atop a boulder looking cute and holding their beers while they climbed. Eugene and Patrick climbed up this dirty crack that looked oh so climbable. They called it 'Moss in My Crack.'

Fast forward one week and now we are in Vantage. Aaron, Travis, and I got our trad and sport on. When I was racking up, I showed Travis the gear, the idea behind passive and active pro and blah blah blah. Anyways, we hiked on over to the Sunshine Wall and hopped on Throbbing Gristle (5.9). I experienced forearm pump for the first time in months. Then we did Strokin' the Chicken (5.6) and I drilled my elbow which made my hand and fingers go numb. Hey, at least my pulleys weren't hurting, right? Anyways, after that, Aaron and I toproped Stems and Seeds (5.11a). Aaron sent it pretty easily so I was like 'Yeah, I can do that!' Well, the two parallel crack had my monkey arms stretched to the max and there were times I couldn't span the distance at all to stem. I worked my way up for awhile and then called it quits. To wrap up, Aaron lead Sinsemilla (5.10c) which was another stem route. I am very proud to say that this was one of the hardest trad climbs I've ever done!! I was so psyched - I made it over halfway before I fell. Okay, so maybe I'm not the next professional climber but this is huge for me. Maybe I can convince Aaron to go back and I can TR it a few more times and then maybe possibly try leading it? I'll buy you a hangboard if you say yes. 

So I have no idea who this is but this is basically what you do for a long time. I wanted to be one inch taller sooo bad.

So, I noticed the other day that if I'm wearing a T-shirt or tank-top, nobody bothers to see if I need help carrying a very heavy package while fighting with a door. But if I'm covered up it's "Oh, sweetheart. Let me help you. That box is so big for someone so small." And that's usually when the box is a whopping 5 pounds. So guys, here are some reasons you should date a girl who is a climber - not one of those girls who "goes to a climbing gym" and lifts the 3 pound dumbbells and doesn't break a sweat.

1. Moving furniture is much easier when your woman can help you heft a sofa up a flight of stairs and hold the door open while trying to play tetris with the doorway and not pinch her fingers. Or yours.

2. You can mime beta of this super sick problem you flashed the other day and she understands just how tough it was to lock-off on that super small crimp and gun for the sloper that was baking in the sun.

3. She owns leggings. Fess up, she looks smoking in them. Especially while climbing and you're spotting her.

4. You have someone to go climbing with all the time. Plus, she's a cute climbing partner.

5. Need motivation to climb harder? Suddenly that Vdoubledigits you've been projecting seems totally attainable.

6. If you run out of chalk, there is a second chalk bag nearby.

7. Now you don't have to carry the rope, trad rack, shoes, food, jacket, draws, slings, tape, chalk, more food, batteries, headlamp, and whatever else you put in your pack by yourself.

8. She'll come up with a bunch of jokes and puns about nuts while climbing trad with you. Laugh, even if it's not funny, because she can't stand on the good feet or use the good hands to take out the darn nut you placed (a little too well) out of her reach on the good holds.

 9. You'll have a soft catch if you take a fall while leading your newest sport project. If not, don't yell at her because your life is in her hands and in reality she just saved your life.

10. Her core workout is a contender with yours. Or puts yours to shame. It's okay. You can do more pull-ups than her. Your manliness isn't in jeopardy. 

Happens to me all the time. 

Alright, that was fun. Anyways, I need to get back to searching for plant pathology jobs. Yay.

Settling in Seattle

It's a blue jean sky in Seattle. I can also see the mountains as I type this blog. What a beautiful view. It's okay to be jealous or feel the need to come see it yourself. You know what makes it even better? Getting hired! I will be working floor staff at Seattle Bouldering Project (SBP) until I can find a job in my field. Speaking of, I made it through the first round and my application and resume got passed onto the hiring manager at Plant Health Care Inc. At this company, I can put my degree and research experience to good use so please cross your fingers, or whatever it is you do. 

View from our apartment!

 Anyways, the biggest news I have is that I got to Skype Anna finally!!!! I skyped her back when I was in Bishop or something crazy long ago like that! Everything is going well with her and we are planning a time for her to come visit me in Seattle :)  After that, it is definitely my turn to go visit her in London. Where are you savings account when I need you? I'm going to speak on Anna's behalf and tell my family she says "Hi" because she is my closest friend. Now I'll speak on my family's behalf and tell Anna they say "Hi" back. Mind-reader.

I love spring! You get beautiful colors like this and a breath of new life!

So now that I spoiled my biggest most exciting news I had to tell you, I'll get onto the boring stuff. Disclaimer: the days have been kind of blurring together lately so I don't know when all this stuff happened but I know it was in the past 10 days. Somewhere along the line, Aaron and I went to Goodwill and scored on some cheap (still in good condition) furniture. We got a couch, dresser, and two nightstands (which function as a second dresser for each of us). Then we got a table and chairs (looks pretty schnazy) and an endtable for the living room. All we need is a TV stand and lazyboy for Aaron.

Aaron's boxes arrived awhile ago and I'm still playing the waiting game for a box. It is somewhere between Des Moines, IA and here. I WANT MY BOX (especially because it has some art pieces (kick butt gift from Aaron is in there) and all of my plant pathology books). I WANT MY BOX. But I did find girl scout cookies in a box so that will hold off my anger for a day because that's how long it will take to finish them. I have most of my stuff so that's good but I still am waiting, rather impatiently, for my other box. I'd post pictures of the apartment but it is kind of a disaster zone (at least there are no legos to step on, right?) with half unpacked boxes everywhere.

Also, one day we climbed at Index! We did a route called Godzilla! We also climbed at Little Si sometime last week. My fingertips are super calloused now and it is weird to touch things! The climbing was awesome, and really close, so we can hop over there after work sometimes :) So here, have some pictures. I am going to practice for interviews and unpack the rest of the boxes. I know there is something else I need to do too but I can't think of it at the moment... oh well.

Granite Goddess

What's up y'all? I feel like I've been trying to accomplish a never-ending 'to-do' list and feeling like a caged tiger in this apartment! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love our apartment but job hunting isn't the most fun thing I've ever done! Anyways, so last post I left off on a Friday rest day for me (I've had a lot of those, huh? I thought Friday nights were supposed to be riveting and having fun? Hmm...guess I'm not a college kid anymore).

Reflection of Yosemite Falls in Merced River via Swinging Bridge.

So Friday. I thought I was going on a nice little hike to Mirror Lake. Well, what was supposed to be a nice little 6 mile hike through the Valley turned out to be way longer and involved a bus back. One of the signs must have gotten turned so the arrow wasn't pointing the correct way because I ended up nowhere near Mirror Lake. After much question-asking, looking at maps, and wandering off a trail, I found the trailhead and I walked the easy mile to the lake. Hate to break it to ya, but it wasn't really a lake. Anyways, the walls looked awesome and I hung out there for a little while and relaxed.

Mirror Lake!

Saturday, I took Blair's advice and warmed up the legs by taking a 10ish mile, 3200 ft gain hike to Glacier Peak. On the way to the trail head, I walked over swinging bridge and was rewarded with a stunning view of Lower Yosemite Falls reflecting in the Merced River. I continued to the trail head and decided I was going to see how fast I could do the 4.6 mile hike. As it turns out, I was actually faster than Blair (the calf muscle endurance extraordinaire). It took me a short 1 hour 49 minutes. Yes, I'm bragging but if you would have been on the trip, you would know that I'm usually the one who would be lagging a zipcode behind if they didn't slow down and wait for me tripping over everything possible. Anyways, on the hike up, I saw a rainbow in the mist of Upper Yosemite Falls! It was super duper cool! Oh, and by the way, the summit of Glacier Peak is to die for. Like holy moly. Go there. You can see the Valley stretch on and on, get amazing views of Royal Arches, Washington Column, Half Dome and even El Cap. Don't worry, I'll post lots of photos!

Far left: Roayl Arches
To the right of the arches: Washington Column
Far right: Half Dome

Upper Yosemite Falls!

 Sunday, believe it or not, my legs and hips were a little tired (as were Rudy and Aaron) so we rested in the morning. Unfortunately, Rudy had to go back home so we said our goodbyes. Then Aaron and Blair put their off-width skills to the test climbing Generator Crack. Can't say they made it look super appealing but it was entertaining to watch at least!

Monday, Aaron and I took a 16.6 mile, 3700 ft gain hike to the top of El Cap (via Eagle Peak). We started on the Upper Yosemite Falls trail and then looped back behind some peaks and had a fairly easy rest of the hike to get to the summit. We saw only 4 people once we got off the main trail (peace) and made quick time to the summit. We had lunch atop El Cap and then hiked back to camp. Tuesday, I lead the most awkward 5.6 there is in all of Yosemite (Swan Slab Gulley). Once I got past the awkward section, it was super easy but I had awful rope drag that felt like I was dragging an elephant behind me.

Please forgive the greasy dirtbag look. Now we have motivation to actually climb El Cap and take another #summitselfie

Wednesday, we had to saw goodbye to the granite goddess. We dropped Blair off at the airport so he could go to graduate school recruitment and then Aaron and I headed for the Redwoods. We ninja-camped and on Thursday took two nice little hikes and saw the BIGGEST TREES I've ever seen. Here are some of the most intelligent things we said:

"That's a big tree!"
"This tree is even bigger!"
"This has to be the biggest tree we've seen!"
"Whoa."
"I can't fit the whole tree in the photo!"
"Now that's a big tree!"
"This is definitely the biggest tree!"
"The tree is huge!"

Imagine that! Plantgirl hugging a tree!

We stayed the night at the Hyatt in Portland. Unfortunately, my family members Peter and Alissa were busy and have their house being renovated so we weren't able to hang out. It all worked out because Aaron and I left Portland early to get to Seattle to start the apartment hunt. We walked by one place and just shook our heads 'no.' The second place was really expensive for a pretty small place. The third place was just right! <-- If that isn't Goldilocks and the Three Bears, then I'll be darned. Good thing my ma, pa, and Brett did a good job teaching me questions to ask and what to look for in an apartment because Irina (the property manager) knew that once we saw the view from the apartment we'd be sold. I peaked in the bathroom, noted the storage space, checked over the kitchen and cabinet space, found the washer and dryer, sized up the bedroom and living room, and THEN went to see the view. A lake view in the city! We can even see mountains! I liked the apartment before I saw the view but was head over heels once I saw it. I could tell by the smile on Aaron's face that he was also sold on the apartment (95% view maybe? :)  ) Anyways, we told Irina we wanted the apartment, signed the lease, bought renter's insurance, and went to go get a cashier's check.

By the way, the tree is bigger than the picture makes it seem.

Saturday at 10am, the place was officially ours! We dropped our meager belongings on the floor and gazed at our view (maybe drooled a little?) Then started the task of furnishing our apartment. First stop was Target to get cleaning supplies, a vacuum, a coffeemaker, garbage stuff, and whatever other odds-n-ends we needed. We also went bed shopping and found one we loved but found out we couldn't get it until Wednesday. That was a little of a bummer but I guess we were used to camping so it wasn't too bad to camp out in an apartment! We also went to a used furniture store and bought an end table and table for the living room / dining room area. 

And before I bore you to death with the riveting details of getting settled into Seattle, I will stop writing this blog post. For those of you who may actually be interested, another one will be coming soon :)  As of now, it is way past your bedtime and is nearing mine. On that note, I'll kiss the stars goodnight and dream of Yosemite and the granite goddess....

Crack Withdrawals

Title got your attention, eh? Well, just to clarify, crack withdrawals has nothing to do with drugs and all to do with crack climbing in Yosemite. Unfortunately, the climbing trip has come to an end, I am in Seattle job-hunting, and I don't wake up and roll out of a tent. I know it's been long since I've posted so I'll break it up into a few posts to not overwhelm y'all. But man do I want some cracks to climb (says the sport climber).

So we left off on a Friday, a rest day. Nothing fancy, just resting. Saturday, we woke up and went to go conquer Midnight Lightning. After a few attempts at the scary top-out, Aaron sent! After awhile, we went over to my project: Bear Hug Arete. I made some progress and played around with a bunch of heel-hooks. Fun time but no send. No biggie. We had an early night because tomorrow on Sunday...

Vernal Falls via Mist Trail on our approach to Snake Dike

 ...we woke up before the sun, ate breakfast in the dark, all three of us got into the Tacoma, drove over to Happy Isles, spilled out of the Tacoma, sorted gear which really means stuffing as much stuff as we could into as little as we could, and started off on the 6 mile, 2300 foot gain approach to Snake Dike (5.7 R) on Half Dome. We left with the perfect amount of light and didn't even need our headlamps anymore! We cruised up the first few miles and were rewarded with a great view of Vernal Falls. Then we continued up what seemed like a stair-master you couldn't turn off, we made it to the top of Nevada Falls. Were we near the base of the climb yet? NO. A few more miles, past Lost Lake, and cairn following on my favorite: 3rd/4th class slab, and then some. No we were at the base of the climb. By the way, I climbed in my puffy (it was cold). Anyways, Aaron lead the pitches and Blair and I followed and cleaned. The first pitch had a friction slab traverse (yay!), the second pitch was another traverse, and the third pitch you had to go to the correct bolt or you found yourself on something harder than you were bargaining for. The next pitches were 5.4 R and 5.3R climbing on dikes where the longest runout was about 75ft! At the top of the climb (800ish ft), we unroped and did what the book called: THIRD CLASS SLABS FOREVER. And let me tell you, it is third class slabs forever. You gain another 1000ish feet. Now, if you ever want to contemplate the meaning of life and how much you value it, just go do third class slabs forever on the top of half dome. Everytime I looked back to make sure Blair and I were staggered, I'd just so happen to see the edge of the slabs slope off to a drop-off and I'd get scared all over again. Aaron has some "hilarious" photos proving how scared I was which I'm sure y'all will get the honor of seeing. But, we did make it to the top and descended the cables. Since we weren't tired or anything, we had a 9 mile hike back to the truck (which we did in like 2.5 hours because PIZZA). We survived and I don't think I'll ever be scared of slabs ever ever ever ever. 13 hours later we made it back!

Blair and I hanging out at the belay station close to the top of Snake Dike. Awesome view!

Monday, I noticed my finger and other parts of my hand were super swollen and had painfully itchy bumps on them. So I rested (you know, I mean did you read what I did yesterday?). Aaron's friend Rudy arrived today!

Tuesday, I went to the doctor. One of my fingers was so swollen I could barely bend it. So I sat in the doctor's office and had 3 people scrutinize my hands. They couldn't figure out what it was. They decided it was some sort of allergic reaction to a plant or animal bite and put me on a steroid for treatment. Talk about eyes being bigger than your stomach. The first few days I was ravenous and ate twice as much as normal. Then I always felt hungry no matter what I just ate. Then I stopped being able to sleep through the night and was up for an hour or two at 3am. To be honest, I can't really remember what the guys did today...oops. I took a hike to Mirror Lake to keep my mind off my fingers and was rewarded with this view:

It's not much of a lake anymore. They used to use sandbags to keep the water backed up and create a lake but now they let the water flow naturally so it's more of a little creek but still beautiful.

Wednesday, I still took it easy because the steroid was still kicking in. I rested for most of the morning and Blair convinced us to go do Bishop's Terrace (5.8). Aaron lead the climb and Blair and I followed. It was a pretty sweet climb with double finger cracks near the top! This was also a test run for my hands to see if they would hold up for another classic route with Rudy and Aaron tomorrow. The boys went to go practice aid climbing on a boulder. Next time I'll learn. Next time.

Summit of Half Dome! Amazing climb, amazing people, amazing views.

Thursday, Rudy, Aaron, and I got up early to go lay down the law on East Buttress of Middle Cathedral Rock (5.9, 11 pitches) another 50 Classics of North America. Rudy and Aaron swung pitches and I did my best to climb fast despite my finger (finger jams = NO, handjams = just as painful). There was a traverse on one of the pitches and I took a nice little swing and jammed my most painfully swollen finger pretty good. That put a damper on things but I kept on climbing (through tears at one point). One of the pitches Aaron lead was a 5.9 A0 bolt ladder which had the bolts strategically placed an inch out of my reach. So that was kind of a bummer but I was able to haul myself up and continue cruising. Oh, did I mention that we had a STUNNING view of El Cap for the first half of the climb?! I'll have to find some pictures and show y'all. When we reached the top of the climb, we ate a little, unroped, and started the descent on exposed ledges which turned into a pretty good trail. We had three rappels in a cold, wet gully and then scrambled on down to the base, grabbed our packs, and aimed for camp. We found Blair on the way to pizza and picked him up.

It's okay to drool while looking at El Cap from East Buttress of Middle Cathedral Rock!

Friday, was a rest day for me as Rudy and Aaron left to go do South Face of Washington Column (an aid route). I also discovered I really like sorting gear and sizing up cams from different brands to get a feel for what is what. I did a lot of lazing around and read my book. Good day.

And I will leave you with that for now! Enjoy the pictures, and the rest of my climbing trip will be posted shortly. Once I find a little more time, I'll post pictures of our new apartment!!

After a 6 mile approach to Snake Dike, I got to enjoy this view for a little while :)